Sunday, June 27, 2010

“The Book of Eli” - Spiritually Inspirational Film or Confirmation of the Horrors of Religion?

[Warning: movie spoiler]

I like Denzel Washington -- always have. I also like action films. So when “The Book of Eli” came out last week I picked up a copy at the local rental joint, bought some Good and Plenty and Sour Patch Kids at Walgreens, and settled in with Mrs. Hump to watch Denzel kick ass and take names in a post apocalyptic America.

What we got was lots of slice and dice / shootin’ and killin’ as a middle aged Denzel (Eli) makes his solitary trek across a devastated landscape. Inhabited largely by low life uncivilized lawless illiterate rabble, the survivors and their off spring of a war that took place perhaps 35 years earlier, the hero dispatches hoards of evil doers with his uncanny martial arts skills. Armed with sword, shotgun, pistol and bow and arrow, nothing can stop him from fulfilling a spiritual quest as he heads west along the “Road of Death” carrying the sole surviving copy of the Bible.

We learn that the nuclear war which destroyed civilization as we know it, plunging the planet back into the dark ages, was a religious war. As a result all copies of the Bible were rounded up and destroyed by the survivors, presumably to prevent another such occurance

The voice of God in his head tells Eli to take his Bible west, guided by “faith and not sight,” [we learn later that Eli is actually blind, and is presumably able to kill everything in his path and appear sighted because of a God given “force” that would be the envy of Luke Skywalker and Yoda combined]. Eli quotes the bible to a rescued damsel who joins him, while being pursued by a megalomaniacal fiend and his henchman bent on obtaining Eli’s Bible thus using it to establish himself as the dictator over the region, if not the country. It’s logical that the Bible could be a catalyst for consolidating such political power; the surviving populace being largely illiterate, unschooled, and impoverished. Sound familiar?

Ultimately Eli reaches his destination, a pocket of civility and educated people who are dedicated to restoring civilization and are collecting and preserving the most important cultural and technological advancements of Man.. And while he loses his King James volume along the way Eli is able to dictate it from memory -- word for word, chapter and verse from Genesis to Revelation -- to the scholarly old scribe who promptly publishes it into bound volumes. Immediately after which Denzel croaks.

To the 86% of Americans who are believers, and especially to the 78% who are Christians, this is the story of a man obediently fulfilling a commandment from God to not let “His” written word be lost for all time. Thus Eli is given powers from God and a faith that compensate for his sightlessness, and who in spite of great odds, is carried by his devotion on a mission to repopulate the planet with copies of the Bible – sacrificing his life in this noble, indeed Christ–like cause.

The epilog if there was one, would be that God prevails, goodness will follow, and the Word will once again be spread across a godless planet to those who have never heard it, thus restoring civility once again. No doubt heart warming to religionists who will be brought to tears at Eli’s devotion, demonstration of God’s power, the promise of continuity of their belief for ages to come, and the opportunity for the ultimate salvation of Earth’s survivors. To theists’ it’s a dream fulfilling ending.

But to the thinking, to the remaining 14% of us, its meaning is much different. It’s a harbinger of the devastation that the divisiveness of religion, and the fanaticism that inevitably follows, is poised to one day wreak upon the planet. It’s a testament to Man’s willingness to ignore history condemning himself to repeat it. It’s an ode to ancient superstition, a justification for its bigotry and ignorance that will continue to pervade men’s minds far into the future. It’s a lost opportunity to rid mankind of the greatest deception and source of division ever perpetrated. To those of us who reason The Book of Eli is a horror story with a nightmare ending.

I'm with NEBob on this one, when I heard about it the needle on my B.S. detector pegged. I guess you do have the advantage of having seen it Hump and it sounds to me that it may have purposely written in an ambiguous way so as to let the viewer make up his or her own mind. The one question that comes to mind for me would be, "Why would a civilized educated people who did not have the bible have a need and/or desire for it in the first place?".

If only they would have made a sequel where Eli comes back from the dead 3 days later and tells conflicting stories to different people. Then a different guy would come along and have a donkey explain things him so that he could then contradict all the things that Eli said, then maybe I would understand it better. HA HAzar

Not sure if this clears anything up, or makes it worse, but there’s an interview with the Hughes brothers at http://io9.com/5447710/is-book-of-eli-a-christian-movie-we-ask-the-hughes-bros that focuses on whether The Book of Eli is a Christian film. They seem to indicate, as Zar says, that the script was written in an ambiguous way in an attempt to appeal to everyone.

When asked why religion would be of use in the future (if it was the catalyst for the great war in the past), Albert Hughes basically says that people are trying to apply logic where none was intended. He goes on to say the film has no agenda; it was made only for purposes of entertainment. However, he is later quoted as saying, “If you apply logic to a faith based religion — any of them — it will slowly start to fall apart.” (I would only disagree with "slowly").

When asked about social commentary, Albert replies, “People with too much time on their hands . . . too much religion on their hands can do some pretty sick and crazy things.”

Allen Hughes appears more religious than his brother, saying, “. . . And let's not split hairs over who God is or what God is, we're all going to assume coming in, even non-believers, that there's something going on. There's some energy, life force or interconnectivity we all have.”

Yep, clearly can be perceived both ways as Zar proposed. Good to see the film's creators arent whacked out religionists. I know Denzel calls himself a Xtian, thus I'm guessing he was playing it from a religion = goodness perspective.

To those of you who have been putting the troll DM's posting emails into junk mail, as you’ve all told me you are... I have been having them deleted from my blog which seems to have him quite aroused and upset.

I would normally leave them entirely intact, but he insists on making them stretched out with spacing instead of condensing them.

So what I'll do is just give you the condensed summary of DM's comments:

1) Yes, I am a schizophrenic. I often have dreams of Jesus doing Bukkake on me. I'm not so sure that's a bad thing. He seems to like it. 2) My mother doesn't give a shit what I do as long as I get to the night shift at BK in time so I can pay her some rent money. She says she doesn't make enough as a hooker to feed me AND house me. 3) I heard Hump and his friends are planning a trip to Quebec in July, but I'm not hanging around to find out so don't waste your time. 4) I was molested by a priest while he was in my Mom's waiting room, but I'm ok with it now. I see him regularly.5) I know there is a God he visits me from time to time. He must be Canadian because we eat Kraft Dinners and drink Molsons. He diddles me with a crucifix. Mom said just to take it like a man

Ok, the rest of DM's posts are directed a random atheist bloggers , but those are the salient points he felt necessary to share. I'll transcribe and condense other posts of his if they are of equal interest.

Bob,NP. He seems to have issues with brevity, and anger. Here's the latest one just a few minutes ago:

[[[ DM has left a new comment on your post "“The Book of Eli” - Spiritually Inspirational Fil...":YOU BASTARD!! I never said anything about God. You made that last one up!! Fuck you, and Hemant and the Amazing Randi. Especially RANDI BECAUSE he was responsible for my failure at my computer export business. ]]]

I always thought that giving him (you know who) any attention was a step in the wrong direction. I am not necessarily backing off from that position, but I will say that your condensed version was not just hilarious but in all likelihood spot on.zar

Hump, thank you for starting this post with a spoiler alert! I finally got around to watching the movie last night and I skipped this post a few weeks ago because watching a movie when all the surprises have been ruined is my least favorite thing to do! I thoroughly enjoyed the movie from an artistic perspective and because I was truly surprised at the end that Eli was blind. I love it when a movie has a good twist that I haven't figured out or hasn't been ruined by some well meaning movie critic.

That being said, the fact that the Bible was saved from total historical oblivion and slid onto the shelf next to the Qoran and the Torah WAS horrifying! It didn't seem to me that the movie was a ringing endorsement of religion up to that point. I guess that was the other reason I liked it! It's interesting that a movie like that was made with any kind of critique on religion at all. I like to think of that as progress in the world, but it's probably just wishful thinking on my part.

I do wish someone could have pointed out to old Eli that if the end of the world had really come, according to the Bible he had so diligently memorized, there should have been a thousand years of peace and heaven on Earth instead of the nightmare he found, OR he was in hell and he was doomed to repeat his westward quest over and over again for all eternity! Hey......wait a minute! Maybe Eli was a child raping evangelist before he died. Now that would be a fitting version of hell for someone like that! Add a little bit more suffering at the end......perfect!

One thing that is being overlooked is that although this was said to be the result of a religious war (as if secular powers would not use nuclear weapons?) the weapons that were used were made possible by atheistic scientists. (as Dawkins assures us, most scientists are atheists)

So if the atheist scientist were really that smart, maybe they would not have provided this possibility in the first place.

So by your reasoning: Secular scientists responsible for the creation of nitrogen based fertilizer are complicit in the blowing up of the OK City federal building by Timothy McVeigh?

And given your logic, the chineese invention of gun powder makes them responsible for the millions killed by gunfire, and specifically the 2nd World War?

And the ancient pagan Greeks invention of "Greek Fire" is responsible for the burning Dresden, and the napalming of Vietnamese children?

I suppose that means that what ever superstionaist prehistoric man discovered how to make fireis complict in the Xtian witch burnings of the 17th centure in America and Europe, and the burning of witches in Africa today by Xtians.

Maybe the guy who invented rope is complict in having given you enough of it to hang yourself.

I drink to that! Now you can too.

Befriend a Camel...

About Me

DROMEDARY HUMP, The Atheist Camel,is the alter-ego of BART CENTRE, a lifelong freethinker, atheist activist and the author of "The Atheist Camel
Chronicles: Debate Themes and Arguments for the Non-Believer,"
and "The Atheist Camel Rants Again!"
A Vietnam veteran and “atheist in a foxhole,” he was awarded the Bronze Star, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, and Army Commendation medal. He is a
retired senior vice president of a national retail corporation
and holds a BA in psychology with a minor in religion.
Mr. Centre is the creator of the Eternal Earth-Bound Pets post-Rapture pet rescue spoof website
which has received worldwide attention and acclaim.
A lifelong New Yorker, Mr. Centre now resides on his "camel ranch" in New Hampshire with his much-put-upon and saintly “quasi-Episcopal” wife of forty-three years and his two atheist dogs. He has two grown, freethinking sons.

The perfect gift for the boy in your priest's life.

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Is it any wonder why he couldn't get adult women and had to settle for children?

Fine Religious Art: Jesus endorses the Constitution of the United States

Well, that settles that!. Jesus was evidently a Founding Father and US citizen. OK, maybe an alien resident. Of course, since Jesus was illiterate he may as well be endorsing the menu at Wendy's.

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Oh, wait.... never mind.

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Translation: "If we see your leg we will beat you into a much shorter life span."

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"Thank you for your drawing of the Prophet Muhammad, Billy... but now we have to kill you."

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Nah! Just preparing a rape victim for stoning in the prescribed Muslim manner, This should curb her unruly sexual desires.

Christianity Explained in 115 Words

The belief that a walking dead Jewish deity who was his own father although he always existed, commits suicide by cop, although he didn't stay dead, in order to give himself permission not to send you to an eternal place of torture that he created for you, but instead to let you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh, drink his blood, and telepathically promise him you accept him as your master, so he can cleanse you of an evil force that is present in mankind because a rib-woman and a mud-man were convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree, which he knew they would do to begin with. -- Anon. _________________________ The whole thing would make Jesus die laughing, if he wasn't already dead, and assuming he ever existed.

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